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Welsh Ponies & Cobs
Producing Quality Ponies for Performance, Breeding and to Love!
P.O. Box 240
Riddle, OR 97469
Phone: 541-874-3333
e-mail: gretchen@justgotmail.net
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Though it is cold and wet here, the ponies are all happily munching hay. They have such woolly winter coats that they don't seem to mind the cold weather at all. The turkey is in the oven, the stuffing is all made. Yesterday we spent the day baking - 2 applies pies, 2 pumpkin pies, 1 walnut pie (like a pecan pie, but with walnuts-- we have a 12 acre orchard), 1 cheesecake and banana nut bread. The tradition here is that the banana nut bread is to snack on during the day, but the pies are for after dinner. My brother and a friend are visiting, and we are thankful to be warm and dry....
Last weekend a very exciting thing happened-- we acquired two Bristol Victorio daughters from Kathleen Rawls of Mt. Dragon Welsh. Evans Tucker Mountain is a yearling filly who will be grey and 13+ hands. She is by Victorio, and out of Bristol Jade, who is a full sister to our Houdini. "Tucker" is 100% Bristol breeding. The second filly, Evans Akasha Cream, is by Victorio and is a 2 year old cream filly with a big blaze. She is quite a big girl, and will mature about 14 hands. Our sincere thanks to Kathleen-- we are very happy to have these two fillies. You can see a picture of Akasha on the Section B page.
We hope that you are enjoying a warm and happy Thanksgiving with family and friends!
Well, the leaves are turning, the rain has started and it is cold out. Since that kind of weather makes me hurry back in the house after my chores are done-- now I have time to give you the ranch update!
We had a LOVELY summer-- never too hot, always just right. But it is always hard to face the long, dreary winters. The hay is in the barn, the ponies are now all hairy. Gone are the beautiful, sleek coats of summer....
I suppose I should begin where I left off--- we were waiting on Adora Belle to foal when last I wrote. Adora Belle gave us a sensational filly this year, a black bay by Bristol Houdini. She is exquisite. We have decided to call her Clanfair Allure, and we shall be retaining her as a future broodmare. Adora Belle has been an incredible producer for us. Every year it seems like Christmas when she foals-- her babies are just so wonderful.
We had a busy spring and summer. We had sold our espresso drive thru business in the spring, but our customers kept calling and coming by our house until they convinced us to re-open as a coffeehouse. I guess you could say that we came back by popular demand! The espresso business is fun, but also time consuming.
We
attended 3 Welsh Pony shows this year with our wonderful yearling colt,
Bristol Encore. He has matured incredibly. Every time I look at him I am
just thrilled. He is so much everything I have ever wanted in a Welsh Pony.
With his near perfect conformation, tremendous bone and substance, excellent
movement and a sweet disposition, he is the total package. Not to mention
he is a rather spectacular color to top it off! At the Oregon Welsh Pony
Society show in June he won his class under judge Valerie Lapicola, and
then won the Junior Championship as well. At the Emerald Empire Welsh Pony
Society show in July he won his class under judge Jane Fischer DeThours,
and also won the Junior Championship again. In August we traveled to the
NorthWest Welsh Classic in Washington where Encore again won his class
under judge Molly Rhinedollar. The NWWC didn't offer a junior championship
at their show. We had a great time at every show we attended. It is always
fun to meet with other pony fanatics and look at the beautiful ponies showing.
I could never get tired of looking at Welsh!
I'm already obsessing about the fantastic babies we are expecting this next spring. This will be the first year that we can produce PURE Bristol x Bristol crosses. We have the following mares bred to Bristol Houdini:
If Teg and Rachel-Rachel have fillies, they will definitely be retained.
Rachel-Rachel is 20 years old and Teg is 24. Safire's foal will likely
be retained if a filly, but will be available for sale if it is a colt.
Fannie's foal will be available for sale, as she is too highly related
to Encore for the foal to be used with him. Adora Belle's foal has already
been reserved.
We are very excited about being able to continue the line of Bristol Welsh Ponies. We have more Bristol ponies than any other farm, and even more than Bristol Pony Farm! This next year we will begin to use Bristol Encore on our mares and I can hardly wait to see what he will produce! I recently completed a very extensive web site for Bristol Pony Farm, (which was later hijacked by Mike Smith of Soltice Web, and he put his name on it as if he was the designer -- after I had compled nearly $6,000 worth of web work for FREE).
At a time when Welsh Ponies are becoming more and more like small Thoroughbreds, and less and less like the old time Royal Welsh winners of decades long past, we feel that it is extremely important to the future of the breed to be producing old fashioned, heavy boned, substantial, good moving ponies with plenty of Welsh type. We are working hard to do that, and our breeding stock reflects that goal.
We plan on offering shipped frozen semen for Bristol Houdini this next year, so please e-mail if you are interested in being placed on our list.
We have retained our only Section D foal this year, Clanfair Chanel to use with our beautiful cob stallion, Lonetree's Romeo. I just was going through some pictures and found some of Romeo that I had forgotten I had taken this spring. I will post a page for him soon. He is quite a spectacular fellow, though the pictures really do not do him justice.
I am hoping to do some updating on the site soon, so please check back for new additions!
All kinds of new things have happened here since my last update! I guess I will start at the beginning....
At the beginning of March I went to Texas on a business trip and was able to stop and spend the night at Bristol Pony Farm before we drove home. For the first time I was able to see the great Bristol Elan in the flesh. I have never been more impressed by anything I have ever seen anywhere. She is simply magnificent. Every enthusiastic adjective you could use to describe extreme beauty could easily fit Elan. She is a pony that does not capture on either video or photos, which was how I had seen her before. It was wonderful to be able to compare her and her son, Encore.
Cherry and John Wilson of Bristol Pony Farm were the BEST hosts, and we truly enjoyed every moment we were able to spend there. Cherry and I stayed up late into the night looking at the pony picture archives. Though we were at it for hours, we did not even scratch the surface of what she has accumulated over the years. Cherry has been my friend and mentor for many years, and being able to visit her at her home was something I will never forget.
On our way home from Texas, a foal was born on our farm. My husband, Gary, was kind enough to stay home and watch over all of the ponies plus the espresso business and the kids while I was gone. I think they call that the Wonder Husband! He called me while we were on the road to give me the blow by blow report of Ginger giving birth to a huge filly by Lonetree's Romeo. She is a beautiful chestnut with a big blaze and has inherited Romeo's exceptional movement. Romeo's foals all have had his movement, and it is incredible!
In the middle of March a new pony arrived here! Bristol Rachel-Rachel came from Diane Herger's farm in Pennsylvania. She is sired by National Champion Bristol Sun God and out of Bristol Glorious Rachel who is by Lithgow Gay Grenadier and out of Texas Ruth. Rachel-Rachel is a superb mare with exceptional type and substance and we are looking forward to seeing what she will produce with our stallions. Diane Herger has retained her son as her herd sire, as well as several daughters. A big thank you to Diane for allowing us to have this wonderful mare.
On
April 27 the LONG awaited foal from Tylwyth Teg (Bristol Sun God x CC Fairy)
arrived! Teg had been turned out for the day and I went to bring her in
in the evening. I called her all the way out there, which would normally
bring her running to the gate. When I arrived at the gate she wasn't there.
I scanned the flat pasture and didn't see her anywhere. Then a small movement
at the farthest corner of the pasture caught my eye. It was the head of
her foal that had just been born! I ran across the pasture at record speed
to find a beautiful chestnut colt. He is so wonderful. He has a tremendous
presence and boldness that is unusual for such a young foal. Every day
he just gets better. I just went this afternoon and took some pictures
of him and Teg. You can see them on Teg's
page....
Then Lonetree's Lydia followed Teg a week later with another chestnut colt. He is just darling and a very sweet boy. He has a nice star and is a very pretty mover. We had been staying up watching Lydia for many nights, but we ended up missing the birth by 10 minutes! No pictures yet...but soon!
On Saturday Gary and I were in town working on setting up our new espresso bar when my parents came down to visit. Turned out they weren't just visiting, they came bearing news! They had been taking the puppy for a walk down in the pasture when they discovered Maggie (Nocturn's Crown Sensation) with her new baby! Maggie's filly is sired by the imported stallion *Okeden Welsh Flyer and is beautiful. She is bay with a nice blaze and 3 high stockings. There are pictures of her at 3 days old with Maggie on Maggie's page....
I have successfully missed every foal's birth this year-- go figure! Alvesta Adora Belle is the last mare to go. She is due in June. One more chance to see a birth this year!
February 24, 2000
cloudy and cold, with a hint of sun now and then
It is beginning to look like spring can't be too far away. The primroses, camellias and violets are all blooming, and a few daffodils are starting. Daffodils definitely mean spring is on its way! We still have plenty of mud, but we have had some rain free days and it isn't quite as soggy as it was. We've even had a few really nice days that were mostly sunny just to spoil us before it starts raining again.
I've always said that a little rain (or a lot) was not going to make the ponies melt, but Teg has proved an exception to that rule. She was absolutely melting. It wasn't rain rot, but her hair was falling out in clumps. Definitely mysterious. None of the other ponies so much as had a loose hair. I had the vet come out and take a look at her, and after we spent a great deal of time discussing it, I realized that it had started about the same time as I had started feeding her alfalfa along with her Equine Senior and grass hay. I took the alfalfa out of her diet, and she has had the palace stall up by the house, and her hair is now almost completely back to normal. Of course now she is anticipating spring and really shedding!
I had Bristol Creme Shell checked to see if she was in foal-- she is not. We will try again this spring, starting early so we have more of a chance if she does not settle right away.
Still no foal from Ginger, and now I'm beginning to wonder if her plump figure is just plump, with no foal involved. She was in with Romeo for several months, so it still is a possibility....
I'm working on a very exciting web site for Bristol Pony Farm, that will help you to understand why we are doing what we do. I'll post more info here about it once I get a little further along on the project. There will be many photos of the ancestors of our ponies on there...
We have a new pony expected to arrive here about the middle of March....stay tuned for more information!
Happy New Year everyone! (Even if it is a bit belated!) I was struck with pneumonia at the end of the year, and have not been doing much lately. I am finally feeling better, which is quite a relief. I never realized that pneumonia was so terrible. For someone who never gets sick-- well, I guess I just had to make up for everything I missed!
We are having SO much rain here. It is soggy, muddy and NO fun. The only thing I can think of is that spring isn't TOO far away. It couldn't get here fast enough to suit me! I am definitely more than ready for some nice sunny weather. At least we aren't too cold, but the rain and mud certainly do get old in a hurry.
Already, (can you believe it?!), we are thinking about new foals on their way. Here is how the year looks like it will shape up:
We had a fun filled weekend!
Our new Section B colt and future herd sire, Bristol Encore, was picked up by our hauler and friend Larry Cerullo of Miniature Ventures last Sunday. Larry faithfully kept me posted all week long on his progress, but by Friday I was pretty panicky about getting him here. Larry always takes great care of the ponies he hauls, but this one was just SO important I could NOT patiently wait. Poor Larry. I called him so many times! We finally decided to meet him up at the McMinnville, Oregon fairgrounds on Saturday. McMinnville is about 3 hours north of us, and that would save Larry from having to drive all the way down and back to deliver just him. Plus I could finally see in person this pony I had waited seven years to have!
Well, let me assure you-- he was definitely worth the wait. Worth every minute. He is absolutely SPECTACULAR. I could not be more pleased with him. He is gorgeous. Super kind and calm disposition combined with truly outstanding conformation. He is one of the most elegant Welsh Ponies I have ever seen, coupled with incredible bone and substance. He has super action-- action to burn! He *floats*! Would you like to see pictures of him? They were captured from video this afternoon with the sun on the wrong side of him, but they will have to do for now. More pictures will come soon! Click here for Encore's page.
September 16, 1999
Well, I don't exactly know how it happened, but the whole summer went by without an update! Can you believe it? We had an unusually cool summer here with only a couple of days in the 90 degree range. We usually have at least a week of 100 degree weather every year-- but not this one!
The update for the foals this year include 3 gorgeous Section B fillies by Bristol Houdini. Clanfair Minette (out of Clanfair Carmen) is going to Larry and Maryann Cerullo of Bend, OR, Clanfair Rosa (out of Alvesta Adora Belle) is a beautiful big bay filly that we are planning on keeping and Clanfair Foxfire (out of HVS Penny Serenade) is just incredibly beautiful and now I am wondering about the wisdom of offering for sale-- especially since I went down to the pasture this evening to visit the ponies and had a good look at her-- she is so awesome.
We have bred back Alvesta Adora Belle and also bred Lonetree's Lydia and Tylwyth Teg to Bristol Houdini. We have also bred the grand old mare Bristol Creme Shell (by the imported stallion *Clan Glomadh), but she has not yet been checked in foal. We are very excited about next year's foal crop. Both of the cob mares, Nocturn's Crown Sensation and Bristol Ruby, have been bred back to *Okeden Welsh Flyer for year 2000 foals.
Another exciting event is that we have purchased a Section B colt as a new addition to our breeding program. After 7 years of waiting for a foal from Bristol Élan (*Coed Coch Ballog by Criban Victor x Lithgow Wishnik - granddaughter of Criban Victor) Bristol Encore has finally arrived! Our wonderful hauler will be bringing him here in October and we are VERY excited. He is a chestnut with a half stripe, and the superb conformation you would expect from a pony of his breeding. I am quite enthusiastic about the foals he will produce with our mares.
I have applied for my judges card from the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America and last weekend had the opportunity to learner judge a Welsh show in Antioch, California with veteran judge and breeder Cherry Wilson of Bristol Pony Farm. It was an educational and VERY fun experience. I enjoyed the ponies and the people immensely!
Over the summer, Lara Brown showed the Welsh Cross mare, Lonetree's Melody, that we bred, to many championships in hunter pony classes. We are proud of both of their accomplishments, and wish Melody's new owners much success!
April 25, 1999
I have been putting off updating this page for a long time. I just could not face it. On March 13 we tragically lost our beloved Section D Welsh Cob mare, Abbys' Holiday. This was an incredibly huge loss for us personally, for our farm and breeding program, and for the world of Welsh Cobs. Never have I ever seen another Cob, either in person or in pictures, that compared to Abby. She was truly one in a million. Not only was her conformation and type unsurpassed, she was a dear, dear friend. It has been extremely devastating and hard to get back into the swing of things.
On a brighter note, we have had three lovely foals. Lonetree's Katy O. presented my poor mother with an extremely large colt while the rest of us were at work. She had told Katy earlier that she knew Katy was just waiting until everyone left, and sure enough-- Katy did just that. His name is Clanfair Firefly, and he is a brilliant chestnut just like his father, Lonetree's Romeo (Kentchurch Chime x Abbys' Holiday).
Section D Cob mare, Nocturn's Crown Sensation (*Sydenham Nocturne x Gordon's Lady Ann), had a beautiful bay filly by imported champion Section D Cob, *Okeden Welsh Flyer, in the middle of March. Her name is Clanfair Welsh Spring and already she is ever so substantial. She was enormous when she was born, and continues to grow incredibly fast.
Section D Cob mare, Bristol Ruby (Kentchurch Chime x Abbys' Holiday), produced her first foal, a beautiful filly, two weeks ago by *Okeden Welsh Flyer. Her name is Clanfair Welsh Holiday, and she is remarkably like her grand dam, Abby. We will be keeping Holly as a sort of replacement for Abby, and though nothing really could EVER truly replace her, Holly still is a part of Abby.
The new foals are all pictured on the 1999 Foals Page. We are expecting 4 Section B Welsh foals any day.
We've had rain, rain, and more rain, and boy, is it ever wet out there! The forecast calls for continued rain, and then snow to the valley floor where we are. This should be interesting. I hope spring arrives soon!
Did you notice the title change? There it is, Foal Watch time already! My, how time flies! Last spring's foal watch seems like such a short time ago. First on the list is Katy O. due on Feb. 4, but she sure doesn't seem to be in any hurry. She is about as big as two houses (now there is a really "technical" term, eh?!) but she isn't shaping up with much of a bag yet. She has always been very consistent in her pattern before foaling, but was always in foal to Dixie Prince, so I am curious to see if this time is different, since she is in foal to Romeo.
The Cobs are all due at the end of February/beginning of March. That should be exciting! I am hoping that Maggie (Nocturn's Crown Sensation) will present us with a nice colt that can be retained to be bred to Abby and Ruby. Romeo is Abby's son and Ruby's full brother, so that just leaves Maggie that he can be bred to. Romeo is SO spectacular, and actually I think the nicest cob I have ever seen, both in conformation and movement. He is truly breathtaking-- which reminds me, I really should get some pictures of him up here so you can admire him with me!
Remember to check back for Foal Watch updates!
January 2, 1999
sun, rain, clouds and cold
Happy New Year everyone! I hope that this finds all of you happy, healthy and warm! Here at the ranch we are very glad to be having our same old, usual winter "refrigerator weather". The week before Christmas brought us 5 inches of snow, and temperatures well below freezing. Early one morning it was 5 degrees! Fortunately both snow and such extreme temperatures are a real rarity around here. In the 81/2 years of living here in Oregon, we have never had so much snow. The cold temperatures made it a real challenge to get all the ponies watered as well.
We have a new arrival here. Our wonderful hauler brought her to us early in December. Her name is Tylwyth Teg, and she is a National Champion, sired by Bristol Sungod, also a National Champion. She is 22 years old, and arrived here underweight, but is gaining rapidly. We are looking forward to seeing what she will produce with Houdini. She has the beautiful exotic head and neck of her sire and excellent overall conformation. I will add some pictures of her soon.
Our sales list dropped down to just one pony a few days ago, so after much thinking, I have added two additional ponies that I had not planned on offering for sale. If you are looking for the right pony, please visit the sales list for more details.
We are looking forward to the beginning of foaling season, which will start early for us this year. Our beautiful partbred mare, Lonetree's Katy O. (Talybont Quicksilver x Tawny Mara), is due at the very beginning of February. She is in foal to Lonetree's Romeo, our magnificent Section D Cob stallion. We are very excited to see what this cross will be. Check back here for details!
October 14, 1998
cool and cloudy
I am always amazed at how quickly time flies when you aren't looking! This is a quiet time of year here at the Ranch, so there has not been much news to report.
It was a hot, dry summer, but now it has cooled off and started raining. The pastures are turning from golden brown to a velvety green as the tender new grass shoots push their way up. The 12 acre walnut orchard, which is home to the geldings, is turning a brilliant yellow, and soon the leaves will begin falling. Though fall is lovely, it is hard to believe that summer is really over. We have had some really fun times feeding the herd of ponies buckets of windfall apples from the old apple trees here around the house. They enjoy them sooo much!
We are preparing to say good-bye to four of our beloved ponies this month. The two sisters, Candy and Charm will be going to live in Massachusetts (quite a long way from home!) with Mary Firestone who has plans on long trail rides and teaching them to drive. Melody is headed to Granite Bay, California where she will begin her training to be an awesome show pony for Lara Brown. And Rachel is headed off to Texas to be a much loved pony for Pam Garner and her family. Though each pony is going to a special new home, it is always hard to say good-bye. We were there for each of their births, and have watched them growing and playing in the fields with their sisters over the years.
We are preparing to wean this year's foals soon. While the foals aren't thrilled about being weaned, they get over it quickly and it is always fun to spend time with each of them getting to know more about each individual's personality. This year's foals are exceptional. See pictures of them on their pages.... New Foals Page, Clanfair Sultana, and 1998 Colt.
August 17, 1998
perfect weather!
Wow! Time really flies. We have been so busy here at the Ranch that I just haven't had time to sit down and write the latest... We had some really hot weather a few weeks ago-- it got up to 107 one day, and we had several days in a row over 100 degrees. It has cooled off nicely now, though it already seems to feel a little bit like fall. There is just a touch of that cool, nippy feeling that comes with fall weather.
Saturday we were able to get out and make videos of the new foals, as well as Houdini and the ponies that are listed on our sales list. I spent Saturday evening capturing photos from the video we took and adding the photos to the web site. There are many new pictures now, as well as some new pages featuring ponies for sale. Please visit the sales list for pictures and links.
The ponies are all very fat, and the grass in the main pastures has turned brown with the summer's heat. On the back fence line of the mare pasture, there still is green grass, and there will be all season. It is shady and cool back there because of the trees and the river. On the really hot days, the ponies would stand down under the trees in the shade.
Houdini's training is coming along wonderfully. He has been so easy to train, and he has such a good attitude about it. On the days when he does not get ridden he runs to the gate just hoping that you are going to do something with him. He really enjoys the attention.
We are expecting a bumper crop of foals next year. Adora Belle, Carmen, Angel and Lydia are all in foal to Houdini, and Abby, Ruby, Maggie, and Katy Bay are in foal to Flyer. We also believe that Katy O. is in foal to Romeo. It is going to be a fun spring. I am really looking forward to it!
Whew! We made it through the 4th of July. It is always stressful here since there is a huge fireworks display right over our ranch. All you can hear is the sound of fireworks exploding and pounding hooves. This is our 8th year at the Ranch, so most of the ponies have experienced it before. While they do run quite a bit, they come through it remarkably well. This year we had a very big moon, and even though it was dark, I could see most of the pasture. My mom and I went down and stood with the broodmares and foals during the fireworks and talked them through it. Most of the time they stood with us, but with particularly loud explosions, they would run away, then circle back. Most of the mares and fillies in the mare pasture headed out to the back of the ranch, and I didn't see them during it at all.
Afterwards, we always check everybody out with flashlights to make sure they all came through unscathed. This year, we found all but 5 of the ponies. Gary and I walked all over the mare pasture (about 30 acres) through the main field, through the plum orchard, through the woods, past the pond and still could not find them. My dad brought the truck down and we drove all over the pasture again through the field, the plum orchard, the woods, around the backside of the pond, and all down the back fence line and to the furthest corner of the pasture. We had seen all of the fence line, so we knew that nobody had jumped the fence in all of the commotion. About an hour and a half after we started looking for them, they suddenly "appeared" back under the plum tree. We still aren't sure where they were hiding out!
Houdini's training is going very well. He has such a willing disposition, and is picking everything up so fast. Gary usually starts riding him, then I finish. I am really enjoying spending some time in the saddle again, as I rarely have time to ride anymore.
Today Houdini learned to load in the horse trailer. While he did arrive
here all the way from Texas at 5 months old, he has not been in a trailer
since. By the time Gary had spent a few minutes with him, he would trot
up to the trailer and trot in. Such a good boy! We are so delighted at
how willingly he learns.
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